Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, who attended Texas, tosses a football around on the sidelines during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game between Oklahoma State and Texas in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. less

Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, who attended Texas, tosses a football around on the sidelines during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game between Oklahoma State and Texas in Stillwater, ... more

Photo: Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press

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Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle (1) eludes Texas' Steve Edmond (33) and Adrian Phillips (17) and takes off on a 69-yard touchdown run in the first quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. less

Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle (1) eludes Texas' Steve Edmond (33) and Adrian Phillips (17) and takes off on a 69-yard touchdown run in the first quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, ... more

Photo: Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press

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Texas running back Joe Bergeron (24) recovers his own fumble as Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert (4) reaches for it during the second quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012.

Texas running back Joe Bergeron (24) recovers his own fumble as Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert (4) reaches for it during the second quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012.

Oklahoma State linebacker Shaun Lewis (11) moves in to sack Texas quarterback David Ash (14) during the second quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012.

Oklahoma State linebacker Shaun Lewis (11) moves in to sack Texas quarterback David Ash (14) during the second quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012.

Photo: Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press

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Texas quarterback David Ash passes against Oklahoma State in the second quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012.

Texas quarterback David Ash passes against Oklahoma State in the second quarter in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012.

Photo: Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press

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Wide receiver David Glidden (6) of Oklahoma State tries to stay in bounds under pressure from cornerback Quandre Diggs (6) of Texas on Sept. 29, 2012 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Wide receiver David Glidden (6) of Oklahoma State tries to stay in bounds under pressure from cornerback Quandre Diggs (6) of Texas on Sept. 29, 2012 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Photo: Brett Deering / Getty Images

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Running back Jeremy Smith (31) of Oklahoma State breaks a tackle against Texas on Sept. 29, 2012 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Running back Jeremy Smith (31) of Oklahoma State breaks a tackle against Texas on Sept. 29, 2012 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Photo: Brett Deering / Getty Images

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Texas 41, Oklahoma State 36 - Final

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By Mike Finger

STILLWATER, Okla. — Back in the Texas Longhorns’ early-21st-century heyday, two of the most successful quarterbacks in school history made names for themselves by rallying to beat Oklahoma State.

It’ll be a while before David Ash lives up to the legacies of Vince Young and Colt McCoy. But Saturday night, he got off to a pretty decent start.

Facing the most important drive of his career, Ash completed four passes in the last two minutes, including a 29-yarder to D.J. Grant on fourth down and a 32-yarder to Mike Davis. Those plays set up a Joe Bergeron touchdown that lifted the No. 12 Longhorns to a 41-36 victory over OSU at Boone Pickens Stadium.

On a night when UT’s defense spent much of its time looking nothing short of atrocious, Ash threw for 304 yards and bailed out the Longhorns. He accomplished most of that by coolly doing what he’d done for much of this season.

Trailing by five points midway through the fourth quarter, Ash completed two short passes, Johnathan Gray had five solid runs, and Bergeron unleashed a punishing 19-yard carry to keep an important Longhorns drive going. Bergeron’s 1-yard TD run put UT (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) ahead with 5:48 left. That was before Quinn Sharp hit a 24-yard field goal to give OSU (3-1, 0-1) the lead, setting the stage for the dramatic final minutes.

OSU made plenty of big plays through the air but had taken the lead early in the fourth quarter by shredding a futile UT defense on the ground. Quarterback J.W. Walsh began the go-ahead drive with a 50-yard scamper around the left end, and Joseph Randle finished it off with a 20-yard run and a 2-yard plunge into the end zone.

Ash’s third touchdown pass to Jaxon Shipley, a 7-yard fade to the right side of the end zone, put the Longhorns ahead 28-20 with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. But the Cowboys, using the big-play capabilities they’d been showing off all night, needed just 34 seconds to respond.

Taking advantage of Desmond Roland’s kickoff return to the UT 43, OSU struck back with two quick Walsh passes, one to Josh Stewart and the second a 20-yard strike to John Goodlett that was originally ruled incomplete but shown to be a touchdown on replay. OSU missed on its two-point conversion attempt, leaving it two points down heading into the final quarter.

After throwing 115 passes without an interception dating back to last season, Ash made his first big mistake of 2012 when he hurled the ball over the middle on a third-and-12 play in OSU territory early in the third quarter. Tyler Johnson picked the ball off for the Cowboys, who converted that turnover into a Sharp field goal.

In the Big 12 opener for both teams, OSU wasted little time in continuing their tradition of putting the Longhorns in a first-half Stillwater hole. On the game’s second play from scrimmage, Randle took a handoff, juked UT safety Kenny Vaccaro and broke a tackle by Adrian Phillips on his way to a 69-yard touchdown run.

Vaccaro, however, atoned for that mistake on OSU’s next drive, intercepting a Walsh pass to set up the second of two early touchdown passes from Ash. The first came on a perfectly thrown 44-yard deep ball to Shipley, and that duo hooked up again on a wheel route that left Shipley wide open for a 20-yard score that put UT ahead 14-7.

The Cowboys came up with another big play to tie the score on a 44-yard pass from Walsh to Stewart, but the Longhorns came right back. D.J. Monroe danced through a couple of tackles and raced to a 100-yard kickoff return, the third return touchdown of his career.